


Rhythm Nation

by darkrosaleen



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Dance, Hip Hop, M/M, Notfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 18:03:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11583372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkrosaleen/pseuds/darkrosaleen
Summary: The not!fic adventures of Baby Boy Stump, hip hop prodigy.





	Rhythm Nation

So it's 2004, and it's been a couple years since tiny frosh Patrick became the youngest dance captain in the history of his college hip hop group. He's crazy talented and has an encyclopedic knowledge of hip hop and all its root genres. Patrick arrived at the first practice of his first semester hiding behind his cap, stammered and blushed his way through introductions, and then broke out moves that put all the upperclassmen in the studio to shame. Travie immediately started grooming him for lead choreographer.

Patrick is roommates with Joe and hangs out with a lot of the hardcore guys. He becomes fast friends with Pete, a twenty-something dropout who lives with his parents in the surrounding college town. Patrick's a little jealous of Pete's stage presence—Pete can barely play bass and sings like a strangled cat, but he practically glows onstage, sweaty and grinning with smudged raccoon eyeliner.

Patrick has no stage presence. No one wants to see a chubby, sweaty white kid try to dance hip hop, so Patrick sticks himself in the very back of all his group numbers. It's hard watching the group fuck up his choreography from behind, but it's better than the alternative. Patrick still hasn't forgiven Travie for choreographing what was basically a lap dance to Beyonce's "Baby Boy" and making Patrick do it solo in front of the whole college dance community. Patrick knows for a fact that the wolf-whistles were coming from Victoria and Gabe, who were probably bribed.

(Patrick is only technically right. Travie had texted his entire friends group before the show, _dance showcase @7, baby boy stump gonna KILL IT_. Pete was sitting next to Gabe when Patrick unleashed the most raw, erotic physicality that had ever graced a lecture hall stage. If Pete's throat hadn’t dried up at the first hypnotic snap of Patrick's hips, he would have been hollering right along with them.)

Patrick's not completely dense; he knows he's a good dancer, and people like watching other people be good at things. There's this headspace he unlocks sometimes, where he's so deep in the feeling of his body and the music that he forgets to worry about being looked at. People seem to cheer louder when he dances like that.

(People _blow their load_ when Patrick dances like that. Pete's spank bank has been reduced to fantasies of Patrick's obscene hips fucking him through every surface in the student union. Vicky-T and Gabe are waging a secret war over who can get Patrick into bed first. Everyone who watches him dance falls furiously in love with him, and Patrick has no idea. It kind of breaks Pete's heart.)

So the big college-wide talent competition is coming up, and Patrick is on the verge of a breakdown. Choreographers already have a reputation for explosive tempers, but a stressed Patrick is off the charts. He's made three people cry, and he nearly punched Gabe over hand placement. Joe starts sleeping over at Pete's because Patrick is so unbearable to live with (Joe still shows up at the tail end of dance practice with pasta from the dining hall, because he's a good friend who doesn't trust Patrick not to drive himself to literal collapse).

Patrick's been choreographing since his freshman year, but Travie always did the talent show number, and Patrick's never choreographed something for an audience this size. He's doing "Rhythm Nation," which led to endless ribbing that he only picked it so he could wear a hat onstage (Travie just burst into laughter and said that Patrick was the only dude cocky enough to choreograph over such an iconic dance). 

When the talent show arrives, they absolutely _kill_ the dance, earning a standing ovation and blowing all the competition out of the water. And when Patrick stumbles offstage, Pete is waiting for him in the wings. He shoves Patrick against the wall, flips his cap around backwards, and kisses him (even more) breathless, not caring that Patrick is drenched in sweat. Patrick is so high from endorphins and crowd energy that he just goes with it. 

When Pete's band finally performs, he misses half his cues, too busy thinking about how he's going to go back to Patrick's shitty student apartment and ride him until his legs give out. He makes a mental note to put on Beyonce beforehand.

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt Dancing AU. I firmly believe that Patrick Stump would be the best dancer in all of bandom.


End file.
